A Different Christmas

This would be the morning when the words "last minute" really mean "last minute." Christmas Eve.

Running to the mall for one last gift. And then there's what I call "combat" shopping at the grocery store. Leroy would get tagged for that task. I'd be in the kitchen. I'd forget something as basic as whipping cream for the pies. He'd always say, "OK, this is it... the last trip to the store."

I couldn't blame him, it really was an awful errand. We were lucky enough to gather close friends around the dinner table... Christmas Eve and Christmas night. Gifts were opened on Christmas morning. Wonderful memories of the two of us sitting on the floor at the foot of the tree. A big fire in the fireplace and Christmas carols filled the house.

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." How many times have I sung along to that holiday standard, never really listening to the words? Until this year.

"Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow."

It's a different Christmas. The fates were not kind. There'll still be a lot of last minute things to do today. But it's just not as much fun without Leroy.

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After that day, your life is never the same. "That day" is the day the doctor tells you, "You have cancer." Every one of us knows someone who's had to face that news. It's scary, it's sad. But it's still life, and it's a life worth living. My Cancer is a daily account of my life and my fight with cancer.